Odenton master plan update coming in February

At the first Odenton Town Center Oversight Committee meeting of the year, committee members tackled the long-standing question of when the new master plan will be complete.

After the current master plan changed zoning within the town center, the draft update is expected to draw intense public scrutiny.

"The public review draft is just about ready," Lynn Miller, county longe range planning administrator said.

The draft will be uploaded to the Odenton Town Center website between by Feb. 23, and also will also be accessible through the county website.

Miller declined to discussed changes being discussed by the committee, or even the issues being addressed.

"There are some substantial parts of the plan that aren't changing very much," she said.

"It's a mix. There are some plan provisions that have changed, there are quite a few that haven't."

The town center was created to encourage development of shopping, entertainment, accessible transportation, cultural enhancement, residences and employment sources.

The master plan, which is updated every five years, includes regulatory requirements as well as general planning guidance for land use and development.

The current master plan changed residential properties to mixed use properties and town center residents were charged commercial stormwater fees as a result.

During a six-week comment period after the draft is released, the public can email thoughts to the committee.

"We are going to post the comments (to the website) probably on a weekly basis," Miller said.

Odenton Town Center residents will receive letters informing them the draft is available.

Planning Director Larry Tom will approve a final draft before it is presented to the County Council, which can amend the plan before approving or rejecting it. Miller said the council should have the plan by April.

"Our hope was that if we are able to stay on the schedule I laid out, which means the comment period would end in April, we could get a final draft together by the end of April but it depends on how many comments we get," she said.

Aside from discussing the draft, committee members voted on two development proposals:

The committee rejected a plan by Andy Chisholm, engineering consultant with J.A. Chisholm PE, LLC, for multifamily housing and townhouses for Odenton Town Center at Seven Oaks.

The property was previously targeted for office space, but Chisholm said there isn't a market for it in Odenton.

"I don't think there's purely an economic reason, there's just no market for office buildings here," he said, adding that residences would be feasible.

"If you build it, they will come. People will be moving in."

Committee members rejected the proposal saying that adding more families to the area would contribute to the already overcrowded schools.

The committee accepted a plan from Terry Averill, an architectural consultant, for a mixed-use office building at 1410 Annapolis Road.

The development would include retailers, space for office use and a restaurant with an outdoor seating area.

Approval from the committee on projects within the town center is needed before it can go forward through the county planning and zoning process.

A presentation on the Odenton MARC station garage study is scheduled for the next meeting on Feb. 24.